Meant To Be
by QueenNorma
Summary: A Ginny/Harry, Ron/Hermione series. Please read and review!
1. Default Chapter Title

Meant To Be

Harry walked into the commons room, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. The huge feast they had every year on the first night at Hogwart's always made him extra sleepy. He was immediately awoken however when he heard Ron and Hermione screaming at each other. 

"I had no idea that Krum was coming to Hogwarts! It's understandable though, I mean, his headmaster ran off to become a death eater again Ron!"

"Well there's no reason for you to get all sappy when you see him!"

"I didn't get all sappy, I simply said hello! What's wrong with being friendly? And besides, you got all sappy when you found out that Fleur was going to be learning to teach here!"

"That's different, she's part veela, I have an excuse!"

"Victor is my friend! There's no reason at all for you to get angry at me for saying hello to him! Why do you even care?"

"I don't care! Go have breakfast with him if you want! Go be more friendly! There's nothing wrong with being friendly!" Their argument continued, and Harry looked around the commons room. Ginny was sitting in one of the big comfy commons room chairs, watching Ron and Hermione bewilderedly. Harry went over to her.

"I was supposed to go down to breakfast with them." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Can you believe it's the first day and they're already fighting? Krum came into the commons room to say hello, and Ron just went ballistic."

"Well, you can come down to breakfast with me, I don't think those two are going to be done fighting for a while."

"Ok." She stood up from her chair and they quietly walked by Ron and Hermione, not wanting to get pulled into the argument. As they were walking out of the portrait hole Ginny tripped, and Harry automatically held out his hand to catch her. When he touched her wrist he felt an unfamiliar tingle. _What was that?_ he wondered. Ginny seemed to have felt it to, she blushed and pulled her wrist away.

"Thanks." She said in that familiar, quiet voice. "Wouldn't do me much good to have to go to the hospital wing on the first day."

"So what classed are you taking this year?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, I did some work over the summer, and since my dad helped me and everything they're letting me into Advanced Muggle Studies. I'll get to be in the same class as Hermione!"

"Wow! You'll be in class with me and Ron too! We couldn't take any more of Professor Trewlaney, so Dumbledore agreed to let us to switch to Advanced Muggle studies!" They reached the dining hall and walked in to the smells of delicious food. Neville immediately came running up to them.

"Hi Harry, Ginny! Wow, you look really pretty Ginny." Ginny blushed a deep red, and Harry looked over at her in surprise. He hadn't noticed it before, but she did look very pretty. Her flaming red hair had streaks of blonde in it now, probably from being lightened by the sun. She was incredibly petite, he had noticed that when he had caught her coming out of the portrait hole. 

"Thanks Neville. Um, how was your summer?"

"Oh it was great, really great! Did you see that they're having a back to school dance for fourth years and above? The Yule Ball was such a big hit that they've decided to have lots of dances this year!"

"Wow, no I didn't, that seems great."

"Maybe we'll go to one of them together!" Ginny blushed again, and Harry felt a strange anger start up inside of him. For some reason he wanted to kick Neville right in the shins. 

"Maybe, we'll see Neville." Ginny seemed incredibly uncomfortable, so Harry broke into the conversation.

"We better go eat Ginny, we'll be late for class." Ginny smiled gratefully at him, and Harry felt something flutter in his stomach. The began to walk over to the Gryffndor table.

"Thanks. I like Neville, but not that way, you know? I didn't want him to have to go to the dance alone last year, but I think I gave him the wrong idea."

"It's no problem. You're Ron's little sister, it's my job to look out for you." Her face fell, and she turned away. _What did I say to make her angry?_ But within a couple of seconds, Ginny had turned back to him and began to talk animatedly about classes and how excited she was to be a fourth year. They finished the meal talking and laughing the whole time, and then set off to the commons room to get their books for their first class. 

"Oh shoot!" Ginny said as she realized that her wand had fallen out of her pocket in the crowded hall. "It'll take me forever to find it with all these people around. You go on without me, I don't want you to be late because of me."

"No, of course I'll help you find it!" As he leaned down to start looking he brushed her hand with his. He immediately felt that weird tingle, and this time he blushed. 

"Ginny! Ginny! You dropped this!" Colin Creevy came running up waving her wand around.

"Oh, thanks so much Colin, it would have taken me forever to find it."

"Oh, it's no problem, no problem at all." He was beaming at her with a strange look on his face. Harry was about to grab Ginny's hand and start walking away when he started talking again. "Um, Ginny, I was wondering, will you go to the back to school dance with me?" Harry felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. 

"Oh, well I'd really like to Colin, but, um..."

"She's already going with me. Sorry Colin." Colin looked disappointed but smiled and walked away. Harry glanced over and Ginny and realized she was staring at him with an angry look on her face. 

"What are you doing? Trying to 'protect' Ron's little sister again? I can make my own decisions you know, and I don't need your protection." Ginny turned and stalked away to the commons room, leaving Harry standing in the middle of the hallway, very confused.


	2. Default Chapter Title

Meant To Be: Part 2

"Ginny wait!" Harry ran after Ginny through the crowded hall, despite the astonished looks of people around him. He knocked into a surprised first year, sending her sprawling against the stone wall of the hall way. "Sorry!" he said hurridly, before rushing down the hall again. When he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady she began to make small talk to him.

"My my, well you're the second one to come through here today looking like you've run a marathon! That little red haired girl, with her face looking like it was on fire, my my my....."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm in a bit of a hurry you see, Horse's Hoof!" He gave the password as quickly as he could and pushed the Fat Lady aside as she swung open, still talking to herself. 

"GINNY!" He yelled, as he caught a glimpse of red hair heading up the stairs to the girls dormitory. "Wait, please, give me a chance to at least explain!" But the red hair continued up the stairs without stopping, and Ron and Hermione broke out of their fight and turned to stare at him. 

"What is going on? First my sister comes in here looking like she's trying her best to keep from crying, and now you come in yelling after her. What'd you do to her?" Ron looked inquiringly at Harry, waiting for an answer. Harry sighed and looked down at the ground, not really wanting to admit to Ron and Hermione what he had done. He wasn't really sure yet why he had done it, and didn't really want to work it out with Ron and Hermione watching.

"Well, Colin asked her to the dance, and I told him that she was already going with me. But the thing is, I hadn't asked her to the dance. I guess I was just trying to look out for your little sister, she's practically my sister you know?"

"Harry," Hermione gave him an exasperated look. "She is in no way your sister."

"Wait a minute. What dance?" Ron peered at Harry suspiciously. 

"Have you two been fighting this whole time? You didn't even go down to breakfast?" He saw from the glares they gave each other that they hadn't. "There's going to be a back to school dance, for 4th years and above."

"Oh, that's just great. I suppose you'll go with the amazing Krum." Ron glowered at Hermione. 

"Oh, and maybe you'll try to ask the wonderful Ms. Delacour again? Or maybe Harry can get you a date and then you can spend the night ignoring her?"

"Well Krum probably won't even ask you!"

"Well I doubt you'll get a date either!"

"Well then maybe we should just go together!" For a moment Ron looked incredibly astonished that he had said this, then he shrouded his face with a look of anger again. A look of surprise flitted across Hermione's face, then she too replaced it with a frown.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" And they both turned on their heels and went up to their dormitories. After a couple of minutes, Harry realized that neither of them had said anything about his problem with Ginny. 

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"I will not cry!" Ginny sat alone in her dormitory curled up on her bed. She had spent the entire summer convincing herself that she did not like Harry Potter, and was determined this year to be his friend instead of being a love struck little girl, that Harry only knew as his best friend's little sister. And she had thought that it was working, even when she had blushed after he had caught her when she tripped. But just now he had treated her like Ron's little sister again. That wasn't what was making her upset though. It was the little tremor of hope and excitement that she had felt when Harry had told Colin that they were going to the dance together. And then the feeling of utter dissapointment when she had realized that Harry was only trying to look our for his friend's little sister. "Crying is what the old Ginny would do." Ginny whispered to herself. And then she burst into tears. 

****************************************************************

Later that night Harry sat curled up in one of the large, comfy chairs in the commons room, waiting as everyone slowly made their way down to dinner. 

"Harry, aren't you coming?" Ron and Hermione walked up to Harry, and Harry noticed that Ron had his arm tentatively on Hermione's shoulder. He pulled his hand back the minute he saw Harry looking at it however, and blushed a deep crimson. "She had something on her robes."

"I'll be down in a bit, I'm just going to sit down here a little bit longer, I'll meet you there, ok?" They nodded and walked away, and Harry could hear Hermione asking Ron curiously, "What was on my robes?" Harry felt like he had been waiting for ages when he finally saw Ginny emerge from the girls staircase. She looked tentatively around the room, as if to check if everyone had gone. When her eyes stopped on Harry she bit her lip, and made a motion to go back up the stairs. 

"Ginny wait for just a minute please. Will you just come here and talk to me?" She paused for a moment, then walked over to him. Noticing that there was only one chair, he stood up and offered the chair he was sitting in to her. She sat down, frowning. These were the things that made it impossible to think of him as just a friend. 

"Look, Ginny, I'm confused. Why did you get mad at me when I told Colin you were going with me? I could see that you didn't want to go with Colin, I thought you'd be pleased to have an easy way out of it."

"But you hadn't even asked me! I'm not a little girl anymore Harry, despite what I may have been when you first met me. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, and you took my chance to decide about Colin away from me. You acted as if I couldn't make up my own mind." Harry gazed at her for a moment, thinking about what she had just said. She looked so pretty sitting there, her little body dwarfed by the huge chair, twisting a ring around her finger. Harry recognized the ring, it was silver, and was made of three unicorn figures that looked like they were perpetually chasing each other. He had given it to Ginny for her birthday, he remembered thinking about how much she would love the little unicorns that had been charmed to make it look as if they were really running, their manes blowing in the wind.

_"She is in no way your sister."_ Hermione's words came back to him. 

"Ginny, I'm sorry I treated you like that, I guess I just wasn't looking at you the way I should have been." He felt his heart flutter as she raised her eyes to his. "Ginny, I would be honored if you would go to the dance with me, not as Ron's little sister but as my friend. Will you?"


	3. Default Chapter Title

Meant To Be: Part 3  
A/N: As usual, thanks so much to everyone for reviewing, sorry it's taken me so long to post this one. Your reviews are what keep me going, and I love your suggestions, so keep them coming! If you haven't read the first two parts of this series, please do, or you won't really understand this! And now, enjoy!  
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Harry shifted nervously back and forth from one foot to the other, as Ginny sat in her seat staring at the ground.   
"So, Ginny? What do you say? Will you please go to the dance with me?" Ginny slowly raised her eyes to his, as she fiddled with her ring. Isn't this what she wanted? But in the back of her mind she still had a feeling she couldn't get rid of, the feeling that Harry was only asking her because she was Ron's little sister.   
"Harry, I'm sure you know that I've had a crush on you the past few years. But I'm over that now, and I just want to become friends with you, to be your equal, not the little girl you've known for so long. And I know I would enjoy going to the dance with you, but I don't want to go to the dance wwith you because you feel some obligation to me. I want you to go with someone you really want to go with. So," Ginny paused, and took a deep breath, "my answer is no. I won't go to the dance with you. I'm sorry." Harry stared down at his feet, trying to figure out why he felt so dissapointed. Now he could go with whoever he wanted! But in his heart Harry had a feeling that if he had his pick of any girl at Hogwarts to go to the dance with, he would want to go with Ginny. He pasted a smile on his face and looked up at her.  
"Well that's great Ginny! And I want to be better friends with you too. D'you wanna go down to dinner now? We've already missed about half of it." Ginny smiled at him and nodded quickly.   
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Harry and Ginny reached the Gryffndor table in the middle of a heated argument.  
"Ron I'm not going to promise not to dance with Viktor! That's ridiculous. I'm not asking you to no dance with anyone, am I?"  
"All I'm saying is that I don't want to spend the entire night sitting by myself while you dance with Krum. That wouldn't be much fun for me. If you like him so much then go with him, don't go with me."  
"Ron, for the last time, I DO NOT LIKE VIKTOR!" Hermione's voice echoed over the great hall, and the entire room fell silent. At that exact moment Krum walked over to the Gryffndor table.  
"Vat do you mean, you do not like me Her-mo-ninny? I thought ve vere friends?"  
"No Viktor I do like you, I was just trying to explain to Ron...."  
"I'll leave you two to your little conversation." Ron stood up angrily and marched out of the great hall, as a couple of Slytherin first years giggled at the drama that was taking place before them. Ginny caught Harry's eye across the table and grinned, giving him a knowing look. To his surprise, Harry felt his heart skip a beat.   
"Oh, there's Colin, I need to go talk to him. Be back in a sec!" She flashed him another grin, then hurried across the room towards Colin. Harry watched as she spoke animatedly to Colin, waving her hands around in the air as she spoke. When Colin began to smile and nod, Harry felt a flash of jealously. Ginny made her way back over to the table, and Harry turned his eyes towards his plate, trying not to look at her.  
"Well Colin's going to take me to the dance now!"  
"Oh that's great Ginny! I'm glad I didn't mess things up." Harry forced a smile onto his face. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can force Ron into a game of wizards chess before bed. See you tommorow!   
"Yeah, tommorow." Ginny said to Harry's back, as he walked quickly away.  
*****************************************************************************************  
Harry almost didn't even notice when Ron's knight bit his finger an hour later in the Gryffndor commons room. He was thinking about the strange bursts of feelings he'd been having around Ginny lately, and the way she'd been acting. He didn't know why he was suddenly having feelings about Ginny that he usually had with Cho, but he suspected they didn't mean anything. And even if they did, it was pretty obvious that Ginny really wanted nothing to do with him anymore. The way she had dismissed him, and then the speed with which she had asked Colin to the dance had proved that to him beyond a doubt.   
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Later that night, Ginny returned to her dormitory after a night of studying. She didn't particularly want to go to sleep, because she knew what she would dream about. She would dream about him. And he had made it perfectly clear today that he really had no interest in her. She had been hoping that when she turned him down he would try to convince her that he really wanted to go with her, that it wasn't an obligation, but instead he had smiled at her, and seemed relieved. She had hoped that when she had asked Colin to the dance it would have gotten some reaction out of him, but instead he seemed happy for her. It was obvious that he had no interest in her whatsoever.   
Ginny sighed and put a robe on over her nightgown. She couldn't sleep, she supposed she would go down to the commons room and read by the fire until she couldn't keep her eyes anymore. She began to make her way down the stairs, still thinking about Harry and ways she could make herself forget about him. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize someone was in the big arm chair by the fire until she had sat down in it and someone had wrapped their arms around her waist. Ginny craned her neck around and gasped. She was sitting in Harry's lap.  
  
  
  
A/N Sorry it's so short, I'm tired and want to go to bed. Also, sorry there's not very much stuff with Ron and Hermione, I just have to work through this Ginny and Harry stuff but don't worry, it's coming. I promise to post the next part tommorow. Please review, I'm suffering really bad writer's block. 


	4. Default Chapter Title

Meant To Be: Part Four  
  
A/N As usual, thanks to everyone so much for reviewing, I especially love it that I am getting reviews from people whose stories I love! This part will be longer I promise, sorry that I didn't put it up on Friday, fanfiction.net wouldn't let me on. As usaul if you haven't read the three parts before this please do or you wont really understand, and please read and review!   
  
  
*What am I doing?* Harry pulled his arms away from Ginny's waist as fast as he could, and Ginny immediately jumped out of his lap, her face the color of a bright red tomato.   
"I-I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention...I didn't see you sitting there..." Ginny stammered, trying to apologize. Harry was mortified. She had made it clear that she didn't like him, so what was he doing encouraging her to sit on his lap?  
"That's ok, I'm sorry about...well you know, I just wasn't thinking..."  
"That's fine, don't worry about it." They both looked down at the floor, each feeling more embarresed than they had ever felt before.  
"So, what are you doing down here so late at night?" Harry finally decided to break the silence.  
"Just thinking. What about you?"  
"The same I guess." He paused. "What are you thinking about?" Ginny's cheeks turned the color of her hair, and she quickly turned her face away from his.  
"Nothing, just, you know, some stuff, you wouldn't be interested..." She mumbled, playing with her robes. *Stop acting like and idiot!* She scolded herself. *He's going to think you're a lovesick fool again!*  
"Oh, well yeah, me too." Harry looked down at his hands. He had hoped she had been thinking about him. She was probably thinking about Colin. Ginny frowned. He was probably thinking about who he was going to ask to the dance now that he was free of her.   
"Well, I guess I'll go up to bed now, you know, I don't want to be too tired tommorow. Good night Harry."  
"Good night Ginny." He said softly to her retreating back.  
********************************************************************  
"Quiet please, everyone, I have an announcment!" Dumbledore stood up at the teachers table the next morning, banging on the table to get everyone's attention. "Quiet please!"All the students stopped talking and looked up at Dumbledore attentively. "I have an announcement to make about the Back To School dance, which all of you know is tommorow." The entire hall burst into excited chatter. "Please, be quiet, or you wont be able to hear the announcment! We have decided to have the dance in the theme of a Muggle Homcoming dance. Because of this, if you choose too, we will be having a trip into London tonight by way of a portkey so you can purchase Muggle dresses and suits.You will all need to wear Muggle clothes for the trip into London. Those of you who don't want to purchase Muggle clothes can just wear your regular dress robes. Thank you." The entire hall burst into loud talking the minute Dumbledore finished talking. But a certain section of the Gryffndor table sat looking quietly rejected.   
"There's no way my parents will send me money for a dress, they're having a hard time right now. I guess I'll just wear my regular dress robes." Hermione said quietly.  
"That's ok Hermione, I'll be wearing my regular dress robes too. There's no way my parents are going to be able to afford to buy me a new dress. And Ron'll be wearing his dress robes too, right Ron?"  
"Hmm? Oh, right, I'll be wearing my dress robes too. I have to go talk to Dumbledore." Ron jumped up from the table, leaving everyone sitting there astonished, looking after him. They watched as he talked animatedly to Dumbledore for a couple of minutes. The Dumbledore smiled at him and nodded, and Ron ran out of the great hall.  
"I wonder what Ron's up to? Well we better get to class." Ginny stood up and the rest followed suit. But to Harry's surprise, Ron wasn't in any of their classes that day. When he got back to the Gryffndor commons room, Ron was sitting there by the fire, resting his feet up on a stool.   
"Ron! Where have you been all day? I've been looking everywhere for you!"  
"Oh, um, Dumbledore gave me permission to work on a special project all day. Are you going to London Harry?"  
"Yeah, I guess I will. Why?"  
"Well, I think I might go too. I've never seen Muggle London before."  
"Oh, well we better go on down to Hagrid's hut, the portkey will be leaving soon. I'll let you borrow a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt."  
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"All right everyone, gather round and listen carefully to my instructions. Our first stop will be Gringotts. There you will be able to get your money out of your accounts and change it into Muggle money. Then we will be going into London. You may not, under any circumstance, perform magic once we are in Muggle London. We are a group on students from a boarding school in Bath. Can everyone remember that?" All the students nodded. "Ok then, lets go, please put your hand on on of these portkeys." He gestured at a pile of old baseball hats. Everyone scrambled to get a place on one of the hats, and within minutes they were in Gringotts.  
After going down to the vault and changing his money, Harry met up with Ron again.  
"So you want to look around together?"  
"Um actually, I kind of want to look around by myself for a while. Is that OK?" Ron looked at Harry doubtfully, and Harry frowned.   
"Yeah, sure that's fine." Harry wondered why Ron didn't want to look around with him. Was he mad at him for some reason?   
"Ok, I'll see you later Harry!" And Ron dissapeared into Muggle London.   
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"Hi, can I help you?" Ron looked up in surprise as a cheerful sales girl approached him.  
"Umm, yeah, I'm from a boarding school in Bath, we took a trip into London to buy clothes for our Homecoming dance. Anyway, I want to buy a dress for my date, could you help me find one?" Ron was thankful for the sales girl, other wise he would have had no idea how to pick a dress for Hermione. He had worked all day in the Three Broomsticks waiting tables for Madame Rosmerta so that he would have enough money to buy her a dress.   
"Oh, well that's wonderful! Aren't you just the sweetest thing? Now, do you know what size she is? What color is her hair? Her eyes?"  
"Um, I'm not sure what size she is.." Ron began gesturing with his hands and describing Hermione to the sales girl. And then they began the daunting test of finding the perfect dress.  
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Harry had been wandering around Muggle stores for the last two hours. He was used to the Muggle world and so he didn't find it particularly exciting, and he had found his suit in the first shop he'd gone into. He decided to go into a woman's clothing store just to look around.  
"Can I help you with anything?" A sales girl walked up to him and asked.   
"No thanks, I'm just looking around."  
"All right then." She wandered off to find another customer to help. Harry wandered around the store, looking at all the beautiful dresses. A dress on a manequin caught his eye, and Harry walked over to it. It was gorgeous. It was a green sleeveless dress, with a red rose wrapped around the hem. The two straps that held the dress up also were made to look like roses.  
"That would look beautiful on Ginny." Harry said to himself sadly.  
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The next day, the proffesors basically gave up teaching. It was no use to try and make the students focus, they were all thinking excitedly about the dance. Later that day Ginny returned to her dormitory, weary from pretending to be excited all day. The truth was she wasn't excited, she wanted to go with Harry, and she knew that the entire night was going to be torture, watching him dance with other girls.   
She pushed open the door to her commons room, ready to begin putting on her dress robes and messing with her hair. That was another thing she wasn't looking forward to, wearing dress robes while everyone else was wearing gorgeous Muggle dresses. Speaking of which, she saw that one of her roomates had left their dress on her bed. Ginny walked over to move it, when she realized that there was a card on it that said "Ginny". Bewildered, she picked it up and read the inside. "Ginny," it said, "I hope you have a wonderful night. From someone who cares."  
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Ron grinned as Hermione, walked down the steps from her dormitory, looking beautiful in her dress robes.   
"I don't think you should wear those Hermione."  
"And why not? They're perfectly nice dress robes, what's wrong with them?"  
"Well nothings wrong with them, except for they look silly when you could be wearing this." He pulled a beautiful red dress from behind his back, and Hermione gasped. "The sales lady thought it would match your eyes." He looked at her with a huge grin on his face.  
"OH RON!" Hermione yelled, and hugged him with all her might.  
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Harry sighed as he watched Ginny walk down the stairs in the dress he had bought her. She looked beautiful beyond belief. The green of the dress went perfectly with her hair, and the red roses complemented her skin tone. He felt something twist inside him as he watched her walk over to Colin and take his arm. He tore his eyes away from her to watch Lavender walk towards him, already talking a mile a minute with Padma about something she had seen in the stars. In the corner of the room George Weasley was talking with his date Casey. Harry sighed again as he heard Ginny laugh at something Colin had said. On the other side of the room he saw Hermione hugging Ron wildly. Everyone seemed to be excited and having fun but him. Lavender walked over to him, giggling as she saw him look her way. It was going to be a long night.  
  
  
A/N Sorry about the bad spelling my word proccesors broken so I had to write this on Note Pad. The next part will be out soon, please read and review, it encourages me! 


	5. Default Chapter Title

Meant To Be: Part 5

A/N Once again, thanks so much for all your reviews, It makes me feel so good to know that people are enjoying what I'm writing. Please review this, its discouraging to get over 200 hits and only 31 reviews, reviews are what keep me writing. Anyway, here's part five!

"Wow, this is amazing!" Harry said to Lavender as they walked into the great hall. Hanging at the front was a huge banner that said "Hogwarts Homecoming". The entire room was decorated with hanging streamers. Instead of hiring a band Dumbledore was acting as a DJ, playing Muggle songs on a CD player and looking incredibly pleased with himself. 

"I don't know, why would we want to imitate Muggles?" Lavender wrinkled up her nose.

"I think it's beautiful," came a soft voice from behind Harry. He turned around and found Ginny and Colin standing behind them. "I like the idea of a Muggle homecoming, I've read about them in muggle books my dad brings home for me sometimes."

"I agree with Lavender. Who cares what Muggle students do?" Colin sneered at the kids dancing happily, and Lavender gave him a simpering smile. Hermione and Ron came walking up to Harry from across the room.

"Isn't it beautiful Harry? I've never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life!"

"I have," said Ron, gazing at Hermione happily. A blush spread from Hermione's neck up to her face and she hurriedly turned away.

"Punch. I mean, I need some. I need some punch. Anybody want some?" Hermione hurried off, still muttering to herself. 

"C'mon Colin, lets go dance! I like these Muggle songs! I've even heard of this band!" Ginny pulled Colin onto the dance floor as "It's Gonna Be Me" began to play. Ron grimaced.

"Ugh, my dad's brought home pictures of these people. They're complete gits."

"I've seen pictures of them, and I think they're cute! Want to dance Harry?" Lavender smiled seductively at Harry. But instead of feeling remotely interested in her, he just felt sick. 

"Um, I'd better stay with Ron, you know, I don't want to leave him alone. Why don't you go dance with Seamus, he seems lonely."

"Ok. See you later...." She pouted at Harry, then wiggled off to join Seamus. 

"So, how are things going with Hermione?" Harry asked, deliberately keeping his eyes away from the sight of Ginny and Colin dancing enthusiastically on the dance floor. 

"Well, I'm completely nervous. I have this feeling that I'm going to mess up or something. I just want the night to be over with as soon as possible." Harry rolled his eyes. Ron seemed to have forgotten that he had been gazing adoringly at Hermione for the past half hour, and now was putting on his "I hate Hermione" act. 

"If you say so."

"Look at this!" The two boys both jumped at the sound of Hermione behind them. "It's a Muggle drink, Coke! You must of had it before Harry." Harry shook his head. The Dursleys had never let him have soda. "Oh you two have to try it! Here." She shoved a glass into Ron's outstretched hand, and he eagerly took a sip. 

"Wow!" Ron closed his eyes. "This is amazing!" He downed the rest of the glass in one gulp, and Hermione laughed. 

"I've never thought it was quite that good, but I guess if you've never had it before...."

"C'mon let's go dance. You don't mind do you Harry?" Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and began to lead her towards the dance floor. 

"No, of course not. I hope he's not too embarrassing Hermione, I'll pray for you." Ron pulled Hermione the rest of the way to the dance floor, and they began to dance wildly, not paying any attention to the astonished people around them. Harry had never seen Hermione so out of character before, but he guessed Ron brought out the best in her, when they weren't fighting. 

Harry felt his heart clench painfully as he watched Ginny dance with Colin. He couldn't believe he'd never noticed how beautiful she was. Her hair was shining under the lights, and her pale skin looked smooth and milky white, like a delicate porcelain doll's. Harry forced himself to tear his eyes away from her beautiful form, he couldn't stand to see her with her arms around Colin any longer.

"Lusting after that mudblood Granger, Pottter?" Harry heard a soft voice drawl behind him. Harry turned around to face the sneering form of Draco Malfoy. "I caught you staring at her. How awful it must be, to have her with your best friend!"

"It's none of your business Malfoy, I don't feel like fighting tonight."

"Man, you really are infatuated with her I guess." He laughed. "Here comes the object of your affection now. Maybe I should just tell her how you feel..." Malfoy broke off, chuckling to himself as Hermione strode up to Harry with Ron in tow.

"Harry, you can't just stand here all night. Come dance with me." Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him towards the dance floor, leaving behind a smirking Draco. 

"You are Harry's friend Ron, yes?" Ron turned around and to his surprise saw Fleur smiling at him. 

"Yes...yes...I'm Ron." Ron struggled to form the sentence. He still became uneasy around the beautiful half-veela. "I didn't know you knew my name."

"I remember it from last year, from zee tournament. When you helped save Gabrielle! Of course I remember!"

"Well......huh." Ron blushed. "So you're a professor now?" 

"I am just in training. I will not be a professor till zee next year." She smiled as she saw Ron's eyes dart to Hermione dancing with Harry. He frowned as Harry put his arm around her and rested it on her back. "Do you like zee brown 'aired girl?" Fleur smiled at him. "I saw you dancing with her before."

"Oh....I...um..she's my good friend...." Ron blushed again.

" 'ave you told her how you feel?"

"I-I," Ron grimaced, feeling incredibly awkward talking about this with Fleur. But he figured if anyone could help him, it was her, so he continued. "I don't know how to show her. I bought her a dress...." He trailed off, looking hopefully at Fleur.

"Zat is not enough. You must leave her with no doubt. Kiss her." Ron's face immediately felt like it was on fire. 

"I-I don't know how. I don't want to mess it up." Ron mumbled down to his feet, feeling even more awkward when he heard Fleur laugh softly. 

"You silly boy. It is easy. Like zis." Before Ron could stop her, Fleur had kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Ron," he heard Hermione say, before he saw her rush out of the great hall.

************************************************************************

"I am so sorry Ron. I was just trying to help." Fleur said as she, Ron, and Harry stood staring after Hermione. "I did not mean to upset her."

"It's ok Fleur, thanks for trying to help me." He smiled at her and she turned to go talk to a seventh year on the other side of the room. 

"Ron, go after her. She's probably heading back to her dormitory." Ron nodded at Harry, then rushed out of the dormitory. Harry shook his head, wondering how he and Ron had messed things up so badly. Clearly he had missed his chance with Ginny. He smiled sadly as he watched her smile at Colin. At least she was happy. The smile was quickly wiped off his face as he watched Colin lean down and kiss Ginny gently on the lips. Every ounce of jealously that Harry had hidden inside him rose to the surface as he watched Ginny stare bewilderedly at Colin.

"Go get her Potter. I know what it's like to want something you can't have." Draco smiled wistfully at the door which Hermione had run through just minutes before. Before Harry had time to think Draco had given him a little push towards Ginny and disappeared into the crowd. It was all the encouragement Harry needed, he stormed up to Ginny with his fists clenched tightly by his side. 

"Ginny, I need to talk to you right now. You don't mind, do you Colin?" He glared at Colin, as if daring him to say that he did.

"Um, no Harry, of course not. I'll just go get us some punch, ok Ginny?" She smiled at him as she gave Harry a worried look. 

"What is it Harry, is something wrong?"

"I need to talk to you outside. Right now." Harry wrapped his hand around her little arm and began to pull her out of the great hall, while Ginny stared up at the enchanted ceiling. 

"But Harry, its storming! Can't you tell me whatever you need to in here?" 

"No, its important to me. Please?" Ginny smiled at him. She couldn't deny him anything when he looked at her with those eyes. 

"OK fine. But only for a couple of seconds." Harry smiled grimly and just pulled harder on her arm, trying to keep his resolve from slipping away. Finally they were out of the hall and standing in the rain, Ginny grimacing as she felt the rain on her head. 

"Why did you kiss Colin in there? I thought you didn't like him?" Harry's question took Ginny by surprise, and she looked at him dazedly.

"I didn't kiss him, he kissed me. He took me by surprise, I don't like him."

"It didn't look like you tried very hard to resist." Harry paced back and forth in front of Ginny, running a hand through his disheveled black hair. 

"I told you, I was surprised! Why do you care anyway?"

"I-I just thought...." Ginny watched Harry carefully as he suddenly stopped pacing and looked up at her. "Oh hell," she heard him mutter under his breath.

"Wha-" She was cut off as Harry walked forcefully towards her and kissed her on the lips, putting his hands around her waist and pulling her towards him as the rain poured down around them.

**********************************************************

"Hermione! I know you're in here, just give me a chance to explain, please!" Ron's eyes were drawn to Hermione's bed, where a little lump lay under the covers sniffling. "Hermione...." Ron pulled the covers off her and reached for her hand.

"Don't touch me Ron! It - it hurts me when you touch me. Do you understand?" She winced, as if remembering exactly why it hurt.

"Hermione please...she was trying to show me how to tell you how I feel about you."

"What, by kissing another girl? If you were trying to tell me that you didn't care that was certainly effective."

"No Hermione...see the thing is...." Ron blushed, and then continued. "I'd never kissed a girl before, and I was worried I would mess it up if I tried it on you." Ron blushed again and stared down at Hermione's quilt, playing with the fringe on it. Hermione tried to hide her smile. She was still angry with him.

"You know how I feel about the infatuation you have with her. Why did she have to be the one to show you?"

"She was trying to repay me for helping with her sister last year...she didn't mean to upset you Hermione, honestly, and neither did I. I didn't even know she was going to kiss me." Ron's voice squeaked a little on his last sentence, making it nearly impossible for Hermione to stay mad at him.

"Well, do you think you're willing to try it on me now?" Hermione smiled shyly at Ron as he looked up at her in surprise, then grinned.

"There's no hurt in trying..." He murmured as he leaned towards her.

A/N Sorry it's taken me ages to post this. I'm looking for a beta reader, so if anyone's interested please tell me. Please review!


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